The Perfect Moment
by magestic
Summary: Troy has to tell Gabriella something, but he's waiting for the perfect moment to do so. Will there be a perfect moment and what does he have to tell her?oneshot. Troyella. Set between HSM1 & HSM 2


Disclaimer: Don't own High School Musical.

**The Perfect Moment**

Troy didn't have any idea about what he was going to say. He didn't even know how he was going to say it. Should he set up a perfect moment, planning everything to the last detail, or should he just go with the flow and wait for the perfect moment to approach? Going with the flow would seem more natural, but what if the perfect moment never came?

Either way, he had to tell her tonight. He'd put this off long enough. He needed to make his feelings known.

"Hey, Troy!" Gabriella greeted, coming out of nowhere. Every time she was near he blushed. He'd noticed that for awhile now and secretly hoped that she hadn't also noticed.

"Hey," he grinned.

"Where's Chad and Taylor?" she asked.

Every Saturday night Chad, Taylor, Troy and Gabriella meant at the park just to hang out. There never seemed to be anyone there at night. Sometimes they'd stay at the park for hours and others times they'd leave it almost as soon as they got there to go some place else, but this Saturday Chad and Taylor weren't there.

"They went on a date," Troy lied. He hated lying to her, but he couldn't tell her the truth, not yet.

The truth was of course that, Troy had asked Chad to take Taylor somewhere other than the park so Troy could spend this Saturday alone with Gabriella and finally tell her what he'd been dieing to tell her ever since they'd made the lead roles in the musical.

What he'd said hadn't been an entire lie either. Chad probably was taking Taylor on a date. They'd been going out since the championship game. They never really acted very romantic when they were together with their friends, but Troy had heard some stories about their dates.

"But we always hang out Saturday night, why would they ditch us? That's not like them at all," Gabriella said.

Troy quickly tried to think of a response. By the end of the night she'd understand everything, but he wasn't quite ready to tell her yet. Troy was still waiting for the perfect moment. Part of him wanted that moment to come soon, but the other part was a nervous wreck and wanted to put it off as long as possible.

"I don't know," he lied, "But hey, who says we can't have fun without them?"

"I just always thought that Taylor was better than that, that she knew how to prioritize."

Troy hurt to see Gabriella so sad, but what could he do? Well, he could tell her the truth, that Taylor was really just doing this for him, but that would just make things really, really awkward. The moment wasn't right yet.

"I'm sorry," Troy apologized, not really knowing what else to say.

Gabriella nodded and slowly sat down in the grass. Troy did the same.

"Do you think it's me she doesn't like?"

"What!?" Troy asked, shocked. "Where are you getting that from?"

"Why else wouldn't she come tonight? Maybe I did something to tick her off without even knowing..."

"Gabi!" Troy cut her off, "Don't think so low of yourself... or Taylor. I'm sure she didn't know it would bother you."

"Why wouldn't she tell me she wasn't coming?" Gabriella asked, not even noticing the fact that Troy had just called her by her nickname, which was something no one ever did.

Troy shrugged, trying to think up something quick. "Maybe she thought you wouldn't come then."

"What? Of course I'd still come."

"Well, I don't know," Troy shrugged once more, "Maybe she figured you only ever come to the park to hang out with her."

"What? That's ridiculous!" she laughed, then suddenly grew serious as realization came over her. "Wait, you don't think that, do you Troy?"

Troy shrugged. He wanted to say no. He liked to think that she was really coming to spend time with him, but sometimes he wondered...

"Troy!" Gabriella yelled, seeing he wasn't responding quick enough for her liking. "Of course I come here to hang out with more than just Taylor, and of course I would have still come even if I knew she and Chad weren't coming."

Troy was incredibly glad to hear those words. His heart started beating quicker. Was this the perfect moment? Not quite, but it seemed to be nearing.

"I love spending time with you, Troy," Gabriella stated in a much quieter tone. "You're the first person I meant at this school, the first jock to accept me as who I really am, the first person to climb up my balcony _with sheet music_!"

"You mean somebody actually climbed up your balcony before without the sheet music?" Troy joked.

"You know what I mean," Gabriella laughed then grew serious again. "It's almost like you put a whole new perspective on life. It's like there was always this other person, hidden away inside of me that was dying to break free and you broke her out."

Troy smiled. The perfect moment was definitely nearing.

"I could say the same about you," he smiled, "I was always the basketball guy, not a singer. You changed that."

"No Troy," she grinned, "You changed that yourself."

"I couldn't have done it without you."

Gabriella smiled.

"And you know," Troy continued, "I wasn't the one who set that girl inside of you free, you did that on your own."

Gabriella nodded. "Maybe, but if it weren't for you I'd still be the freaky math girl that no one talks to."

"Yeah right, that could never be you."

"Sure it could. You'd be surprised how many people get scared off by smart people."

"I'd still talk to you," Troy replied, very sincerely.

"I know," she smiled, "You already proved that, Troy. If it weren't for you talking to me, I bet nobody else would have either."

Troy shook his head. "Don't say things like that, Gabi, you're much better than you make yourself sound." 

"You really think so?" she asked, just to see his response.

"Of course. You're smart, you're an amazing singer, you're fun to hang out with and you're... even beautiful."

Troy had been nervous to say those last two words. He wasn't exactly sure how she'd respond.

"Thanks," she said, smiling once again.

"And your smile," Troy exclaimed, "It's pretty amazing too."

"Well, someone's rather open about his thoughts tonight, now isn't he?" Gabriella joked.

Troy blushed.

Seeing that Troy wasn't responding, Gabriella thought that perhaps he'd taken her joke the wrong way. "I didn't mean that as a bad thing," she explained.

"Yeah I know, I just..."

"Just what?"

"Just really have something to tell you that I've been dieing to tell you for well... kind of a long time."

He said not being able to take it anymore. He didn't care if the moment wasn't entirely perfect. It didn't matter that it wasn't like one of those stupid romance movies his mom sometimes watched. He had to tell her how he felt and he wasn't going to put it off anymore, waiting for some stupid perfect moment that may never come.

"What's that?" she asked, curiously.

"I've been thinking recently and... I... I don't really know how to say this or how you'll respond, but I... I don't think this friendship is really... well, I mean it's great, but haven't... haven't you ever thought that I... I don't know maybe... maybe a friendship just isn't good enough?"

He was lost for words. Gabriella could see that, but she just had to find out what he was getting at. She had a suspicion as to what it was, but she had to be certain.

"What are you talking about, Troy?" she asked.

"I mean..." he tried again, "Maybe we're not... I mean we make really good friends, but maybe a friendship just isn't all there is for us. I mean... do you want to be my girlfriend?"

"Yeah," she smiled in response, "I'd like that Troy."

Troy smiled. Maybe he hadn't had the perfect set up. Maybe he hadn't planned a perfect moment. Maybe he should have done it differently, but at that point in time none of that mattered.

This here and now was the perfect moment. Finally he'd got his girl. Finally she was no longer just his friend. That alone made this moment the perfect moment.


End file.
